Necessity has caused me to assemble a new mini EDC Personal Survival Kit, please review it and feel free to provide comments.

About a year ago my old cell phone packed it in and I acquired a Sanyo 7050 Mil Spec (shock/vibration/dust) flip phone. It is a tough little phone with good range but I find the sound quality only marginal.

I needed a new belt pouch for my phone and bought a Nite-ize Clip-Case, it has a few built-in pockets and a magnetic closure. I was very pleased with the case but the phone sat too far into the pocket, so I figure I had to build up the bottom of the pouch with something?

I also had the problem of where to carry my Altoids Tin Personal Survival Kit, especially when I was not wearing a jacket with pockets. I also did not want to draw attention to the kit, as I would if I carried it in a seperate belt pouch.

So I created a bare minimum mini survival kit in a 35mm black plastic film canister and fitted it into the bottom of the cell phone pouch. All other tools visible on the pouch are also black so it looks like I just have a larger (older) cell phone.

When the pouch is fully loaded with gear it looks like this:



In the pockets of the pouch are found the following items:



Clockwise from left.
- Survival instructions on waterproof paper (Thanks D.R.)
- Thin plastic mirror sheet
- Sanyo 7050 cell phone
- Eze Lap diamond Knife Sharpener
- Gerber STL 2.0 Folding Knife with paracord figure-8 knot to aid removal.
- Mini-PSK in 35mm film canister (contents discribed below)
- Slim Bic lighter
- Safety pin
- P38 Can opener

The mini PSK in the 35mm plastic film canister contains the following items:



1 - Bison aluminum whistle (shortened) with ferrocium rod epoxied on back side
2 - Carbon hacksaw blade with sharpened end
3 - 5 Windproof/waterproof matches with striker strip, in plastic bag
4 - 15mm 4x plastic magnifying glass
5 - 2 Cotton balls impregnated with antibacterial ointment, in plastic drinking straw
6 - Piece of wax fire-starter (Coghlins)
7 - 1 Cotton ball (to stop rattling noise)
8 - Single edged razor blade, wrapped in 4m of upholstery thread
9 - 2 Needles, magnetized with north-end indicated
10- 12 Fish hooks (very small to medium size)
11- Swedish fishing jig
12- 4 Split shot fishing sinkers
13- Inova LED light (2 power levels plus strobe)
14- Compass (1cm dia.)
15- Pen refill for SAK Signature
16- Handcuff Key
17- 35mm plastic film canister wrapped with: 4m of heavy seatbelt thread, 15m of 15lb mono fishing line, 20m of 50lb Spectra line and 8m of 30lb stainless steel wire
18- 35mm plastic film canister lid with plastic mirror glued inside
19- 1m of electrical tape (to wrap around outside of film canister)

These items are packed very tightly in the canister and I expect to open it only when I really must.

This kit is ment to supplement my normal EDC (knife, multitool, lighter, whistle, compass, etc) that is scattered about my person. It is reassuring though to know that this little kit is always there when needed and over the past 6 months of carry, no one has commented on it yet.

Hope this mini EDC personal survival kit has given you some ideas.

Mike

Handcuff key ????

A handcuff key is always good to carry,,,,,,,

Not that I carry mine from my old USCG MLEBO (Maritime Law Enforcement Boarding Officer) days, all of the time!!!!!!

I don't disagree with you as I have a spare one on my personal key ring also ... but why in a PSK ?

I thought that key would raise a question?

In my line of work having a spare pen and handcuff key can prevent very embarassing and potentially career limiting situations.

Mike

I prefer to keep my handcuff keys concealed, not on my key ring, as that is the first place a suspect in custody will look if given the opportunty.

One thing worse than a suspect in cuffs, is a suspect you mistakenly believe is still in cuffs.

Mike

Is that compass reliable? Pretty nice knife BTW, how do you like it?

I have one and it is borderline IMO. Better than nothing.

I'd say very nicely done. I like the way you have modified a lot of this so it fits into your custom case and situation.

I am a little curious about the hacksaw blade. I am apparently too narrow minded to come up with a reason for carrying this. While I can imagine using your saw held in your multi-tool pliers to cut through smaller metal objects, what other ideas have led you to include this?

BTW, your links seem to have "http" in them twice which keeps them from working as easily as they could.

Hi Jim,

I took the compass from a cheap LED/Whistle/Compass combo tool and selected it because of the small size. I checked it and the compass does indicate direction correctly, but it is for only the crudest navigation (e.g. the highway is south of me, which the compass says is that way).

The Gerber STL (stands for Strong, Thin, Light) 2.0 is a handy little knife. It is made of titanium coated 440A stainless steel and locks open reasonably tight although I would not pry hard with it. It has one hand opening and I find I use it a lot because I usually have it with me. The knife is very small at only 3/16th of an inch (5mm) in thickness. It retails for $13.00 to $16.00, but every couple of months they go on sale at Canadian Tire for 50% off. This is the knife I usually use when I am in public instead of my Spyderco "Waved" Endura or Leatherman TTi as the larger tools tend to freak people out.

I first learned of this knife on the ETS Forum when it was mentioned by Billym here for inclusion in a DR/AMK PSK.

Mike

swamp donkey,

Look into the Safariland products. They have belt keepers that help in keeping things concealed.

I might add cash ( a useful tool) a phone contact list ( #'s), and drop the whetstone. Replace the bic with a mini-bic?

TRO

Hi Teacher,

Good ideas, Thanks.

I tried a black mini-Bic first but the bottom of it was white and more visible. So I went with the slim Bic, it is the same diameter as a mini-Bic but standard length, it has a black bottom. I usually gag the Bic gas release with electric tape.

Just before I photographed the mini-kit I tried to add a $20.00 bill to the outside pouch pocket (which now has the P.38 in the bottom of it), but this caused the slim pocket to open into the main pocket and it made it hard to insert the cell phone.

I may be able to add some cash and a phone list to the rear pouch pocket or to a slot at the back of the pouch where the belt clip is. I would have to sew the bottom of this slot closed to make it a pocket but is should work no problem.

Mike

Anyone ever really used a survival fishing kit to save there life?

not that i ever heard of..someone on this site awhile back said all it was good for was too give you something to do untill the rescue arrived..security blanket item???..i know in the North that Whitefish is the only one you can really live off of for any length of time..

Good question about the fishing gear Bruce.

I live in an area that is full of lakes, rivers and streams, the odds of catching a fish on a handline are very high; we do it every winter in just that manner.

I do agree with you that the demand for food in a brief survival situation is low. I was going to include the line on the exterior of the kit anyway (due to it being multipurpose) and for the sake of a few hooks, sinkers and a tiny jig I thought I could give-up the space in the 35mm film canister.

One thing I could not fit in the kit was any first aid gear. I thought about including 3 aspirin as I have read that chewing them at the first signs of a heart attack can save your life and allow you to get to the hospital, any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Mike

A hancuff key. Nice one Mike !

I will be adding one of them to my key ring soon. Never know when you may need to escape the military police. Darned party poopers. Ha !

As for the fish hooks, I removed them from all my small kits because I don't really see the need for them on my person. I always have a small fishing kit in my backpack though. I never heard of a fishing kit saving anyone's life but for the space takes it dosen't hurt to have a few hooks on deck JIC. After all, a flashlight wont save your life either but I never get caught without one.

Thanks or the input Taurus, nice to hear from you!

Mike

Same to you bro.

I am back on the shelf for a while and stuck in front of a computer.

I figured that if theres a spare log by the fire and if you guys don't mind I will pull it up and chat a while. At least until the cast comes off.

Cast? What did you do?

As a striker for the ferrocium rod. Stainless knives don't throw sparks very well.

For when that kinky evening goes terribly wrong.....

Stainless steel knives can throw sparks just as well as the hacksaw blade IF they are set up properly.

All you need is a square sharp edge....the hacksaw blade is set, but you could square the spine of that knife and it would perform just as well.

There is no validity to the notion that you need carbon steel on a ferro rod. Anything sharp can throw sparks. Here is stainless from my Farmer tossing some sparks from the sharp awl.







I am not sure how you might get that handcuff key out of that container.....in handcuffs. So I might move it.

I have never seen a handcuff key, so I had to go to Google Images and see what they look like. They apparently come in 'disguises', too: one is part of a belt buckle, and one is a ring.

I've read about guys keeping one taped to their body, like on their lower back, just in case they're handcuffed with their hands behind them.

Funny thing, though... I've never even heard of a woman carrying a handcuff key. I wonder why that is???

Sue

Actually, I personally think that DR is wrong about this one. The Survival kit is supposed to provide signal/fire/water purification for 1-3 days. But it could be streched to a week. Under those circumstances a decent fishing kit becomes desirable.

I have tweeked mine by adding:

6 more hooks + split shot.
1 silicon jig.
40" Spyderwire.
40" Braided fly-fishing backing line.

I have also added 6 more Tinder-Quick and 10 lifeboat matches with striker. Just in case I loose or break the Spark-Lite.

I personally am of the view that you should go into long term survival mode on day 2 of a situation and start hunting, trapping and fishing in earnest.

I would also urge anyone who has the good judgement to carry the RS kit to add a water bottle, knife, metal cup, 40' of cord, lighter, torch and something to waterproof a shelter with. Bin bag, mylar blanket, AMK heat sheet, poncho etc.

Broken wrist and thumb.

Even if you stretched it out to a week you should get by without having to fish/hunt. A week without food would suck, but if all I had was what I could fit into a mini kit like the pocket pack I would rather have a ziplock bag and some water purification tabs as opposed to fish hooks and line. good drinking water will always higher on my list of priorities than fishing will be.

Everone has their own way to skin the cat though.

Sorry Yuccahead, I missed your original reply and question about the hacksaw blade.

As was already pointed out, the hacksaw blade is for use with the ferro rod that is epoxied to the back of the whistle, it works well. Schwert is correct that anything reasonably sharp will scrape sparks off the ferro rod. I did want something to scrape with within the mini-kit itself, so I included the hacksaw blade.

The hacksaw blade is also cut on an angle at the end and sharpened for use as a small blade. The hacksaw blade is carbon steel and used with the right stone (quartz in my area) will produce a spark. I remember an internet video that showed this (I thought it was Andrew Price on A-Z Bushcraft) but I cannot find it now?

Sorry about the "http" x 2 I am not much of a computer guy.

Mike

Hi Schwert,

The handcuff key was not intended for me to use if I was placed in handcuffs, but for me to use to unlock a suspect/prisoner if I have forgotten/lost the normal EDC key I carry.

But, to find out if I could unlock myself I just now tried to see if I could access the mini PSK key while in cuffs. If your hands are locked if front it is easy to do, if your hands are locked behind you it is tougher because you cannot see what you are doing; I was able to do it in a couple of minutes. The toughest part was getting the pouch unclipped from my belt as there is a hook at the bottom of the plastic clip. Finding/extracting the key from the kit was also difficult and I ended-up having to pull everything out of the canister.

When I was younger I was much more flexible and due to having long arms I was able to pass my hands that were handcuffed behind my back, under my feet, so my hands would end-up in front. With my bad back and knees I am afraid to even try it now!

Mike

Hey Taurus,

How about sharing the broken wrist/thumb story (if you are allowed to) we promise to learn from your experience and not laugh.

Mike

Well, I stand corrected. Now I'm going to have to 'go for a walk' to try it out. Thanks!

Nothing interesting dude.

I was setteled into the new house and decided to lower northern Ontarios deer population one weekend. After getting a nice deer, dressing it, quartering it and strapping it down on the front rack of my ATV I was heading back to my truck when the front wheel caught a nice culvert that collapsed catching the wheel in the rut.
I wasen't going that fast but the sudden stop propelled me out superman style. The way I had my hands on the bars caused my wrist to snap, I am not sure but the fingers may have been the result of the interesting landing. fortunately the Quad didn't flip or it could have been ugly.

It was a short but interesting flight over the handle bars of the ATV. The only reflex action I could manage was to grab what I could during the flight(which was the quartered deer)

As I lay on the ground feeling the bones of my arm grinding together and buried under deer meat I was really greatful that I was alone, as I am sure it looked funny as hell. As I lay there looking into the eyes of the deers severed head a few feet away I could swear it was smiling.

Lessons learned - # 1 be prepared to do first aid on yourself.
# 2 strap deer to AFV in more secure fashion

That's an interesting story, glad to hear about your good luck with the deer, sorry to hear about your bad luck with the quad.

I did almost the exact same thing this year when I was deer hunting. I was driving my quad slowly back to camp (our trails are very rough) and jammed a stump inside the recessed rim of my front right tire. This brought me to a sudden stop and twisted my right hand/thumb off the handlegrip, did not break it but it hurt for a couple days.

I find that if I hit an obstruction with the tire it rolls over it or at least softens the blow, if I hook inside the rim I just stop dead.

Mike

Because women get arrested at a much lower rate than men, and once in the system they receive lighter sentences for the same crimes.

http://www.nicic.org/Library/022439

It's a part of the struggle for equality that no one seems interested in addressing.

That's what the silver foil is supposed to be for

I also have 6 MP-1 tablets in there. I rather tend towards carrying a separate Flexibottle of about 1 litre capacity as I am frankly dublious about the structural integrity of a ziplock. I actually repacked my kit so as to put the items that I expect to need first closest to the zip. It's remarkable just how much extra space that generates.

Hi Smash,

Welcome to the Forum Brother.

Yes winter has really arrived in Northern Ontario, I only have about 6 inches of snow but areas around me have a lot more. I spent this morning at work winterizing boats and trying to start/store frozen ATV's, I should have done these jobs a week ago when it was warm!

Mike

This morning I used a ferrocium rod to light some tinder piles. I used two knives as strikers, one a normal carbon steel Mora and another knife, marked stainless. I did get fire with both, though I think the Mora threw hotter sparks. It certainly was a brighter flash, not as yellow as the stainless blade. The back of the blade is squared off, not rounded. I don't know what brand the stainless blade is, it looks like a cheap import. The only thing I can think of is what is the stainless blade's alloy? Would that make a difference? I'm pretty sure stainless has carbon in it. Unless I'm mistaken, without carbon it's not 'steel.' I've heard of high carbon stainless. Is there low carbon stainless? Is carbon even necessary? I didn't have any other stainless blades. I guess I'm going to have to buy some stainless Moras, just to try this again.

swamp donkey:

Nice kit, but as I do not know your situation or environment I can not comment on what is overkill or not. I sort of "layer" my EDC. What is actually on me is the barest - and I mean barest - minimum necessary. See. Cut. Signal. Start a fire. And a few bucks, too. It is also configured to attract minimal attention in my urban-suburban every day world (your cell phone pouch works well for that).

Me, I'd loose the fishing kit and the hacksaw blade (the back of a knife blade does the same thing) for EDC and move those things to a "second-tier" carry, such as a briefcase, Day-Timer or daypack. And replace the whetstone with a diamond rod or other dry sharpener. I'd get a bigger compass, too (yours is way easy to loose, and hard to read if you are shivering in the cold), and a better light (I have an Arc AAA-PE).

Other than that, a nice kit. Hope this helps

.....cliff
(like, who else?)

Very Nice!

How easy would it be to improvise one? I would rather have more safety pins than hooks, on the theory that they could be cut and bent into hooks if necessary, but some of the other fishing items are even smaller and would be harder to improvise.

A lot more difficult than most people realise. Bushcraft experts not withstanding that is. The RS kit is space limited, which is why I have only added half a dozen extra hooks. All of my larger kits have 20 plus hooks. The intention being to set long lines etc baited with whatever happens to be under a rock.

Is there a good way to pack hook(s) so the point doesn't work its way out -- for long term carry ?

Teacher, one way I was shown is to take a piece of tape (either duct, or electrical, depending on the size of your kit), jay the hooks on it, and put another piece over it. It will lay flat, and, thinking about it, I suppose you could put safety pins & split shot in there too. You may have to clean gunk off the hooks, but thats one way to do it.

Oldsoldier is correct, most of the fish hooks in this mini-kit I laid on a piece of electrical tape with the smaller ones gradually fitting inside the gap of the larger hooks, they take up little space.

I have been carrying this kit for about a year know and am still pleased with it. I use the Gerber STL 2.0 knife frequently throughout the day, the Bic lighter and diamond sharpener I use occasionally. The only thing I used of the mini-survival kit was some of the outside wrapped black tape and cordage, it was months ago and I do not even remember what I needed them for?

I tried to purchase a couple more of the pouches in case I ever damaged this one, but Nite-eze has changed the design and removed many of the functional pockets. If you like something you should always buy a spare before the change it!

I like having the mini-kit with me as part of my larger EDC, it just makes me feel more prepared.

Mike

Don't forget,should you be stranded Away from a Fishing source,those fish hooks work real well on Snares/Traps!Carry as many,Assorted sizes as,is feasable!Ideally,set many Traps&Trot lines,if possible.

Thats the beauty of laying them out on tape: they all stay where they are, they all fit, and they dont take up a lot of space. Laying flat is MUCH better than a tube!

Fishhooks are standard in a PSK, and have many uses other than fishing, such as sewing to repair packs or clothing, stitching up large cuts, making traps and snares, etc.
I agree that their use for fishing in a survival situation is questionable, as it is not likely that you will catch more fish then than you normally do when fishing, maybe fewer. That's why I learned to make fish traps, trot lines, jug fishing rigs, wiers, etc. so if opportunity presents itself I can fish and still have time and hands free to do more productive things. The knowledge may save you when stuff lets you down. Be sure to check local game and fish laws before practicing though as trot lines, fish traps, etc. are illegal in many places.
Some heavy weight, say 35- to 50-lb., braided fishing line is very good for tying out tarp shelters, lashing support poles, making traps, setting trot lines, and so on. It's much lighter and more compact than paracord, too, for a small EDC pouch like you have.

i like bics, but if i was going to bet on a disposable lighter inho djeep is a much better brand. they are shaped squat like a zippo. they are regular butane, their claim to fame is over 4000 lights. i have had three, and i think that they blow bics away. better flint, adjustable flame, and the new ones come with a child proof thing that locks the gas release up, and usually have some silly sticker around it. i peel the darn thing off. i just picked up a few more on sale at a gas station, 99cents! they are kinda hard to find.

Djeep

Thanks EL, I have never seen a djeep lighter here in Northern Ontario but I will watch for them.

Mike

Those look rather promising. I'll have to keep my eyes open for them. Since I rarely venture into convenience stores; are there particluar chains of stores that seem to carry them?

[/quote]

Those look rather promising. I'll have to keep my eyes open for them. Since I rarely venture into convenience stores; are there particluar chains of stores that seem to carry them? [/quote]

i have seen them at wal-mart and walgreens. in the isle where they have cigs/tobacco. Walgreens usually has them here.(MO) pm me i can drop one in the mail for ya.

Thanks EL!
I'm just down I-44 a ways so I'm hopefull that the Walgreens or Walmarts around here will have them too. I appreciate your offer and if I can't find one I might take you up on it. Thanks again.

You will see the in Quebec. That is about all I saw in Montreal three years ago after the TSA stole all my Bic's....

Old thread wake up...

Holy cow, the original poster has got to have some skill! He has everything he needs in a tiny little setup.

Thanks ireckon,

I still carry the same kit, but find it missing 1st Aid, water and shelter components. The best thing about the kit is that it is always with me, a middle-aged guy carrying a cellphone in a black nylon holster is normal. The Gerber STL 2.0 knife I use daily, the lighter a couple times a week and the diamond sharpener maybe once a month (usually for other peoples blades).

I did both a week of moose and week of deer hunting this fall and found that my recently built small survival kit in a BCB Mini Mess Tin was too heavy and large for pocket carry, therefore it rode in my backpack with the shelter kit. This made me feel less that prepared on my person, even with my normal on-body wilderness EDC items present. I ended-up also carrying a supplemented AMK/DK PSP in my coat pocket.

Since there was no cell phone service I did not carry my Mini-Kit so I am going to assemble a new small kit in a medium-size tobacco tin (a little bigger than an Altoids Tin) and carry that in a slightly larger Nite-Ize pouch similar to the one used in the Mini-Kit. That way I will always have the kit with me and it is easy to move from one set of clothing to another.

Sounds like another mid-winter project to me.

Mike